When we visited our friends Ken and Walt in St-Aignan in early July I decided I would bake them a cake. I gave it lots of thought and opted for a chocolate Guinness cake baked to Nigella Lawson’s recipe.
I first made this cake at least six years ago, for Nick to take to a charity cake stall at work. It was incredibly popular. After the first time where it sold for £1 a slice, people requested it, no, demanded it, and the price went up to £1.50 !! So it’s a really good seller for charity.
It’s incredibly easy to make. You basically whisk all the ingredients together in the saucepan in which you melt the butter with the Guinness. It takes a long time to bake and many times I have been unsure if it was cooked or not and been tempted to give it a few more minutes. But Nigella advises that it is meant to be a damp cake so I have stuck to her timings and it has always turned out fine.
In France I couldn't find soured cream but my food dictionary told me that crème fraîche was the same thing.
It often sinks in the middle and may crack on the top. Neither really matters as the topping fills in any unevenness perfectly.
A friend who makes it regularly for her family told me that not only does it freeze very well, it also freezes well with the topping on. She also makes only half the quantity of the topping as she finds it too sweet. It is indeed very sweet so I split the difference and made two thirds – it was perfect.
One I made earlier, with full quantity of topping.
You can find the recipe on Nigella’s website here. I also once successfully adapted the recipe to make it into cupcakes – they looked gorgeous and were yummy too.
If you haven’t tried it yet I would strongly recommend this stunning cake for a charity cake stall or a special occasion. It’s not cheap to make but it cuts into about 16 slices and is always well received. The flavour of the Guinness does not come through as such but it makes the cake not too sweet and makes it look fabulously dark. The topping adds just the right amount of sweetness.
You can see my updated post and the recipe I now use here:
https://bakinginfranglais.blogspot.com/2023/01/chocolate-guinness-cake.html
